Women Attacked In East Baltimore

Baltimore City Police say they have two teenagers in custody after two women were attacked in East Baltimore.

The attack took place in the 1400 block of Bank Street around 8 p.m. Monday.

City Police Sgt. Eric Kowalczyk tells WBAL Radio a group of teenagers came up to the women and some sort of struggle occurred. One of the suspects was able to run off with an iPhone belonging to one of the victims.

The women were leaving a nearby yoga studio and heading to their cars at the time.

Sgt. Kowalczyk says that one of the victims was punched in the face. She suffered a bloodied nose and was treated at the scene.

He says that detectives do not believe the women were targeted by the teenage suspects. "Unfortunately, this is just one of those random occurrences and it is not just endemic here. We have seen incidents like this in Chicago, New York and other cities. We just want to remind people that do your best to be aware of your surroundings, be in groups of people, be in well-lit areas, to do all we can to proactively prevent this from happening," says Kowalczyk.

Police have stepped up their presence in that area as a result of the crime. The police command truck is now located in that area and additional officers are in the area to prevent something like this from happening again says Kowalczyk.